What did Anthony Fauci say about the mandate of COVID-19 vaccines for school-aged children?

COVID-19 cases and infections have increased, even in children, as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads. While the Vaccines against covid-19 they have done an amazing job to end sickness and death, the unvaccinated face the greatest difficulties, specially in United States, which has a population that includes around 50 million children under the age of 12 and these are the ones who have not yet been accepted for injection. In the United States, pediatric cases of COVID-19 are skyrocketing, as are cases in unvaccinated adults.

While children remain, as they have been throughout the pandemic, at a much lower risk of becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus, especially compared to unvaccinated adults, child hospitalizations in the North American country have now reached a historic peak of the pandemic. With so many children unable to access vaccines and their health dependent on those around them, parents and caregivers must now navigate the reality that Delta poses greater danger to everyone, this which means that also eIt is a more serious danger for children.

In this line the doctor Anthony Fauci, Director of U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, for its acronyms in English), He said the vaccination warrants for school-aged children are a “good idea” for him.

Top White House medical adviser said Requiring vaccinations for students is not uncommon in the United States. “This it’s not something new ”, manifested in dialogue with Jake tapper in the program “State of the Union ” of CNN. “These kinds of mandates already exist in schools, especially in public schools. We have been doing this for decades and decades requiring vaccines for polio, measles, mumps, rubella or hepatitis ”, stress.

However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved a COVID-19 vaccine for use in children under the age of 12. The vaccine Pfizer recently received full approval for use in over 16 years old. Meanwhile, the Disease Control Centers They recommended that those 12 and older get vaccinated to help stop the spread of the virus.

“We want to continue collecting safety data because we are always more careful with children. Other authorized vaccines are for those 18 years of age and over, but the good news is that there is progress in consolidating this safety data and also in reducing the ages at which these vaccines can be used ”, explained to Maria laura santillan to “CNN morning” for CNN Radio, Maria Elena Bottazzi, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Vaccine Development Center.

For his part, the doctor Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said to NPR What Pfizer is expected to submit clinical trial results for people ages 5 to 11 to the FDA next month. However, he assured that it could take months after that to approve emergency use of the vaccine for children. “I have to be honest, I don’t see accreditation for children aged 5 to 11 arriving well before the end of 2021 ”, manifested Collins.

After stressing that “there are clinical studies in children under 12 which are expected to receive authorization for use by the end of the year”, Bottazzi held that At the moment of the pandemic, “the concern is especially for the children”. For her, “Another thing that gives cause for optimism is that not only are these vaccines approved for children under the age of 12, but more are coming as well.” “At the end of October, I think we will have a synthetic recombinant protein vaccine What is wrong with this very good leaflet for pediatric use because it uses platforms already widely used in these age groups ”, underlined the microbiologist, who underlined that in the meantime, “We must continue to have integrated care practices.

“Make no mistake, the FDA you will act quickly on this because you recognize what is at stake. It’s the health of our children, and there really is nothing more important than that.“, the doctor had advanced Vivek Murthy, Director General of Health.

Is that Evaluating vaccines for children under 12 is now a priority for the U.S. government agency, as insured Murthy, who added that Doses could be available by the end of 2021.

There could be as many as 100,000 new deaths from COVID-19 in the country by the end of the year, but the situation, while “completely predictable”, is also “completely preventable”, he said. Fauci on Sunday. For the specialist, The United States has the “means” to avoid the fulfillment of the prediction, but the problem is the 80 million people in the country who are not vaccinated.

“We could change that and do it efficiently and quickly if we could vaccinate these people,” he said. Fauci. “It is very important that people in this crisis put aside all ideological and political differences and get vaccinated.”

Meanwhile, last week, The United States has reached a daily average of 100,000 hospitalizations for COVID-19, according to a report by New York Times who said the increase in cases only rivals the increase last winter, when vaccines were not available.

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